Kafir-corn header.



KAFIR CORN HEADER.

APPLICATION msn JAN.29. |917.

l ,267,559. y Patented May 28, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.I

E. L. KOON.

KAFlR CORN HEADER.

APPUcATmN FILED 1m29. |91?.

Patented May 28,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ELI/IER L. KOON, F WOODWARD, OKLAHOMA.

KAFIR-CORN HEADER.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1918.

Application `filed January 29, 1917. Serial No. 145,227.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMnR L. KooN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Woodward, inthe county of Woodward and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Kar-Corn Headers; and I do declare ythe following to be a full, clear, and exact description oi the invention, such as will lenable others skilled in the art to which it 'appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its principal .object to provide a comparativelysimple yet highly eiiicient corn heading attachment for .fa-rm wagons.

Another object is to provide novel means for adjustably mounting the header upon a vertical standard.

Yet another object is to devise an improved type oi? knife so constructed and mounted as to cause it to throw the ysevered heads into the wagon bed.

*With the foregoing general objects vin view, the invention resides in certain novel features of construction and unique combinations of parts to be hereinafter fully debeing supplemented by the accompanying drawings which constitute a part of this application and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention applied to a farm wagon;

Fig. 2 is a plan view 'of the invention and a portion of the wagon bed;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the main deck and the cutting knife mounted thereon with the corn guiding hood and other parts removed for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 5 is an edge view of iFig. 4 with parts broken away and in section;

Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section on the plane of the line k6--6 of Fig. 2, showing the knife inthe act of cutting the head from one of the stalks;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, showing the manner in which the knife throws the severed heads toward the wagon bed.

In the drawings above briefly described, B designates the bed of farm wagon, S the usual steps thereof, B" the braces at the ends of said steps, and B2 the bolts by which said braces are secured to the sides of scribed and claimed. the descriptive matter the bed, these bolts serving in part to attach the present invention to the wagon.

A transverse bar 1 extends beneath the bed B and by means of @clamps 2 is secured to the step S, one end of said bar having formed therethrough an opening through which a vertical standard 3 passes, said standard vhaving a stop collar 4: resting on the bar 1 and adjustably secured in place by set screws or the like 5. A bracket 6 is rigidly secured on the upper end of the standard 3 and brace rods 7 diverge downwardly from this bracket and are anchored at their lower ends by the bolts B2, the rearmost oi said rods preferably having a turnbuckle 8 for taking up lost motion when the device is applied.

A vertical vsleeve 9 slidably surrounds the standard 3 below the bracket 6, and an angle metal deck frame 10 is secured at its rear end to the upper end of said sleeve by an eyebolt or the like 11, the front end of the frame 10 being shaped to form an yopen throat 12. Rear braces 13 depend from the rear end of the frame 10 and are secured to a clamp 14 on the lower end of the sleeve 9 while front braces 15 rise from said clamp and are secured at their upper ends to the sides of said frame. By these means the frame is rigidly connected with the sleeve.v 9 and when the latter is adjusted vertically on the standard 3, said frame will be con respondingly moved.

For adjusting the sleeve 9 a lever 16 is tulcrumed between its ends to the bracket 6 and the front end 'of said lever is connected by a link 17 with a collar 18 secured between the ends of said sleeve. The lever 16 is provided with a suitable dog 19 cooperating with a rack 20 which is secured to or formed as an integral part of the bracket 6, whereby said lever may be locked in adjusted position.

A sheet metal deck 21 is riveted at its edges to the deck frame 10 and is formed at its front end with a notch corresponding to the shape of the throat. 12, the rear end of said notch terminating in a comparatively narrow slit 22. A horizontally disposed cutting blade2i?) is mounted on the deck 21 t0 one side ofthe slit 22 and the cutting e Ue of said blade extends obliquely across this slit as depicted clearly in Figs. 2 and i. At its pointed iront end the blade or knife Cri 23 is supported upon a spring 2t and adjacent the rear end of the cutting edge another spring 25 supports the knife, bolts or the like 26 being passed through the blade, both springs 25, and the deck E21 for retaining the former in place. rknother bolt 2T passes through the deck and through the blade 23 at a point spaced a greater distance from the cutting edge of the blade than the bolt which passes through the spring 25, a third coil spring QSbeing interposed between the head or" said bolt 27 and the upper side oi the blade 23 so that `the latte-r normally assumes approximately the position depicted in Fig. '7 but may yield to that shown in Fig. 6.

An arched hood 29 is supported by arms or the like 80 above the throat l2 to bend the tops of the corn stalks downwardly so that the knife 23 can more readily ope ate thereon, said hood also insuring that only a predetermined amount of the stalk be cut therefrom since it will bend the tall stalks farther down than the comparatively short ones.

An auxiliary deck 31 is hinged to the inner edge of the deck 2l and serves to guide the severed tops into the bed B, said auxiliary deck having a suitable stop 32 to abut the side of said bed to prevent the entire heading attachment from swinging inwardly to toogreat an extent as willy be clear from Figs. l and 3, suitable shields being provided for insuring` that. the. severed heads pass from the deck 2l onto the auxiliary deck 31.

Preferably used in conjunction with the parts above described is a downwardly and outwardly curving nger 3l which projects forwardly from the outer edge ot the deck 2l to guide the corn stalks into the throat l2.

ln operation as the wagon is driven across the eld, the throat l2 will receive the numerous rows ot corn one at a time and as the knife comes in Contact with the stalks as shown in Fig. 7 and the machine coutinues to travel, these stalks will exert a downward pull on said knife to compress the springs yupon which it is mounted as shown in Fig. 6. Then, as the stalk is cut the head lops over toward the wagon bed and when it is completely severed the springs can expand, thus throwing the severed heads onto the auxiliary deck 3l from which they slide into the wagon bed.

A machine constructed as or substantially as shown and described will be highly ethcient and durable yet simple and comparatively inexpensive. For these reasons, the arrangement of parts shown constitutes the preferred form of the header but it is to be understood that within the scope oli the invention as claimed, numerous changes be made without sacricing the principal advantages.

l claim:

l. A corn heading attachment for farm wagons comprising a standard and means for securing it to the wagon bed, a bracket secured on the upper end oi said standard brace rods depending from said bracket, and means for securing them to the wagon bed, a lever Julcruined between its ends to said bracket, a rack carried by said bracket for holding the lever in adj usted position, a link depending from the front end of said lever, a vertical sleeve mounted slidably on the standard below the aforesaid bracket and connected with the lower end oi the link, a deck secured at its rear ond to the upper end ot said sleeve, rear braces extending from the rearend ot said deck to the lower end of the sleeve, front braces inclining upwardly and forwardly fromsaidlower end of the sleeve and secured to the sides of the deck, and a cuttervmounted on said deck.

2. i corn header comprising a portable receptacle, a support movablebodily with said receptacle, a knife mounted on said support and adapted to be depressed by engager ment with each corn stalk, and means Jr'or suddenly raising said knife to its initial position the moment the stalk is cut, whereby to throw the severed head into said receptacle.

3. A corn header comprising a deck having an inlet throat at its front end, a horizontal heading blade extending obliquely across the rear end of said throat and disposed above the deck, front and rear fasteners kpassing' slidably through the blade and connecting the same with the deck, and springs surrounding saidfasteners and interposed between the deck and blade to yioldably support the knife above said deck.

4f. A corn header comprising a deck having an inlet throat at its Jfront end, a horizontal heading blade above said deck and extending obliquely across the rear end of the throat, a pair of fasteners passing slidably through the blade adjacent the cutting edge thereof and connecting said blade with the deck, a third fastener passing slidably through the blade adjacent the opposite edge thereof, springs surrounding said pair ot fasteners and .interposed between the deck and blade, and a third spring surrounding said third fastener and exerting its pressure downwardly on said blade.

ln testimony whereof have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELMER L. KOON. Witnesses:

M. M. Marinai, HERBERT KJOKELHALN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the ,Commssoner of Eatents, Washington, 3J', n. 

